In the Gym
by tiff098765
Summary: Season-1-style Caskett FUN ramped up to a season-4/5-level.
1. Beefcake

Captain Gates demanded that Castle receive training. As much as it bothered her, he was part of her best team. He followed her orders (as far as she knew.) She wanted him to know what he was doing.

He could have hired a private trainer, but Ryan & Espsito volunteered to teach him to fight. They didn't expect him to already be good at it. He explained that he'd learned while writing Derrick Storm so he could write the fight scenes realistically.

At first, the boys took it easy, but quickly ganged up on him to test how he handled multiple assailants. He managed well enough. After a flurry of kicks, punches, grabs, throws, blocks, and parries, all three men are soaked in sweat and laboring to control their breathing.

Esposito smirks when Castle holds up a hand and backs up. "Giving up already, Castle?"

Ryan takes the break to lean down, hands on his knees, and catch his breath.

Castle says, "No, just, ick." He peels his sopping wet shirt off.

After another 15 miutes, the other two have decided to rid themselved of their disgustingly wet shirts, too.

Karpowski intended to get a workout before her shift started, but pauses when she reaches the door without opening it. Her eyes widen at the sight through the glass. She stares unashamedly at the three shirtless, muscular men, beating the snot out of each other. She can hear their taunts, laughter, grunts, and curses. She admires their bodies, muscles swollen from exertion, and wonders if they'll ever make a beefcake calendar of the Men of the 12th like the firefighters do. She pulls out her phone and snaps a few pictures before she walks away with a grin.

Sitting at her desk, she's surprised to see Beckett walk in on her day off. In her old, soft jeans and pretty tank top, she clearly wasn't called in for work. "Whatcha doin' here, Beckett? Missed your boys & couldn't stay away?"

Karpowksi watches for an embarrassed reaction, but doesn't get one. Beckett just looks confused. "They're here?"

"Yep. Sparring in the gym."

Beckett just nods and turns her attention to searching her file drawer for something in particular. She mumbles an answer to Karpowski, "Just had an idea and needed to check on something."

She reads through a file, leaves it open on her desk, and opens another, setting it where she can see both files. She finds the connection she was looking for, and she is pissed.

"Damn it. _Castle_." Her voice is more like a growl.

She storms up the stairs to the gym, but the boys aren't there. She can hear the rush of water through the pipes of the old building going to the showers of the gym's locker room. She doesn't care who's in there. She rams the door open, "CASTLE!"

x

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><p><em>To be continued.<em>

_This is for the Sundae Sisters, and for all of you who have been egging me to write some M-rated stuff. _

_Please review. I'm addicted to them. They're addictive like the "How to Make an NF Sundae and Other Shallow Thoughs" thread on the ABC board._


	2. Showers

_A/N: I really wasn't planning on writing this when I jokingly said it on the board. But then (as all my fics started from something on the board) the idea kept playing in my mind. If you'd read the the thread on the board, you'd understand. Then I twisted my ankle & had to sit here anyway, so why not write it? (Other than the fact that it's just wrong to be thinking this stuff about anyone but my husband. But he doesn't seem to mind.)_

_x_

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><p>Beckett makes sure she's loud enough to be heard so the men can cover themselves. She's too angry to wait until they come out. If she waits, she'll calm down. She doesn't want to calm down.<p>

She's always found it odd that men don't have problems showering in a shared space but won't share a bed, while women are the other way around. This locker room at least has shower stalls, even though they don't have curtains. She stomps past the first stall, glancing in. Ryan heard her coming and turned away. He jerks the towel around him a second _after _she looks in. Somewhere in her mind, she registers that he's got quite a nice rear end.

Esposito heard her, too, and faced the wall. He didn't worry about covering with a towel, though - if she didn't want to see his bare butt, she shouldn't have walked in there. He'd mostly rinsed the soap from his body, but a few bubbles still cling to the wet skin of his well-muscled back. She quickly keeps going, impressed with what Lanie gets to have fun with.

She stomps past three empty stalls to the last one. There, she finds her target. "CAS-"

She expected Castle to be fumbling to cover up. He'd done an excellent job of respecting her boundaries while patiently trying to tear down her walls. With him trying to hide himself, she would be in a position of power in this arguement.

She did _not_ expect him to be facing her, eyes shut, head tilted back into the spray of steamy water, rinsing shampoo from his thick hair, a tiny bubble stuck on his eyelashes for a second. She did _not_ expect to see the lather dripping all they way down his body. She did _not_ expect to find a prominent tattoo on his upper thigh. And she definitely did _not_ expect to see him in all his glory, hanging out like it is on display.

But that is exactly how she finds him; his name catches in her throat as she takes in all the visual input and freezes in shock.

She's too stunned (and impressed) to even look away.

Castle opens his eyes to find his detective gawking at his wet self. His mind races through various responses, the most instinctive one is to cover himself, but judging from her slack-jawed look as she stares _down there_, she's already seen plenty.

She notices him twitch _down there_ and begin to respond to her presence.

He notices that she's not wearing a padded tee-shirt bra because he can see her reaction through her jade green tank top.

He doesn't know why she's there, but he knows her reason probably isn't good. (Or either it's _great._) But at the moment, he is in control. So he interlocks his fingers behind his head, stretching, and letting the water flow over his shoulders and down his front. He extends his arms toward the ceiling, stretching again, then relaxes. "Something I can help you with, Detective?"

She blinks out of her stupor. She has no idea why she went in there in the first place. But she can't let him know that.

He understands the flicker of confusion anyway as she slowly forces her eyes back up to meet his eyes. He can't help the smug smirk on his face. He reaches a hand toward her but stays where the water hits the back of his neck and runs down his chest taking with it the last of the shampoo suds.

She looks down at his outreached hand, and it seems like everything is in slow motion. She shouldn't have looked down again. She can see that he's becoming quite happy to see her.

"Care to join me?" He's almost laughing at her. Though, in all fairness, he'd be just as dumbstruck if the roles were reversed.

"Get dressed," she demands, but she doesn't at all look like she meant it. She turns on her heel and walks out, not even noticing Ryan and Esposito in their towels as she passes by them. They watch her go like she has finally lost her mind.

The door bangs closed behind her. They look first at each other then toward the last stall.

Ryan calls out, "Castle? What the hell, man?"

Castle steps out, towelling his hair, then wraps the towel around his waist. "Don't know why she was here, but I didn't hear her coming." He grinned. "She got quite an eyefull."

Esposito laughs, "I bet she did."

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><p><em>Please review! Reviews are addictive like foot massages. Have you seen that video clip of Naked Nathan giving some lucky girl a foot rub on the Outer Limits?<em>


	3. Conflict

_Here's a nice visual aid for you: **ht tp:/tiny .lt/7sgdw8x** (remove the 2 spaces) I could drool over those two photos all day._

_x_

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><p>Beckett leans agains the cinder block wall, trying to control her racing heart. It felt like it had stopped beating when she saw <em>him<em> and is now pounding double-time to make up the loss.

She feels incredibly hot and knows that the heat was only partially caused by the steam in the locker room. She paces. Her feet sound wierd on the tile floor with tennis shoes instead of high heels. The sound of the water stopped as she was walking out of the door; she has to get herself under control before Rick comes out. She was mad about... something... and has to let him know.

The door opens and she swallows hard and straightens her spine. Ryan walks out, followed by Esposito. Ryan keeps going, straight to the exit. Esposito stops. He smiles. "Hey, Beckett, fancy meetin' you here." His grin widens to reveal his white teeth.

"Shut up."

He laughs at her and walks out through the double doors.

* * *

><p>Castle takes his time getting dressed. Kate must want to talk about something, and he doesn't want to try to focus on her words and tame his Knight at the same time. He'll never tell her that's what he calls it, but he thinks it goes with the Castle theme quite nicely, especially when he used to frequently go on conquests for fair maidens.<p>

He pulls his navy blue tee-shirt on, applies some deodorant, and combs his hair with his fingers. He doesn't fix it perfectly, and he leaves some droplets of water on his forehead as a reminder to her of what she just saw. If she is mad, he wants her to be flustered. He buttons his fly and pulls on his socks and shoes.

He opens the door with his gym bag in hand and finds her leaning against the wall looking completely composed.

She doesn't feel composed. She heard the squeal of the door's hinges and saw the ghost of steam exit the locker room a second before her partner did. She put on her game face.

She glares at him to let him know she's pissed. But she again can't remember why. Her jaw clenches and she focuses on not letting him see that she loves that his hair is a little mussed and that he's still a little wet. And so is she. _Shit, did I really just think that? _And the smell of his soap and shampoo and deodorant is strong and intoxicating. _Focus, Kate. You're angry at him._

His half-smile and one raised eyebrow is making it harder._ Bad word choice! Difficult, not harder. Focus. Anger._

She hardens her steely glare and pokes him viciously in the chest. "How could you?"

He stakes a step back._ What did I do?_

She shoves him, both hands hard against his chest. He drops his gym bag. "What did I do?"

She shoves him a second time. He starts to get mad. If she's going to attack him, he should at least know why. Then he notices her eyes flick down to where her hands just made contact. Her eyes linger.

He steps back again, realizing that she's noticing how his shirt hugs his chest.

Castle takes one more step back as she goes to shove him again. This time he blocks her and instantly pins her forearms with his biceps on either side of his ribcage. She glances down, seeing that he has backed them onto the padded sparring mat. He releases her arms, still bewildered by her behavior. "Are you going to tell me what this is about?"

She should really stop. She should walk away. This conversation can happen in the bullpen where she has files. Files that will remind her of why she came up here to unleash the fury of a tornado. But she likes shoving him. She likes his firm chest against her palms. She likes his clean, spicy scent.

Right now, that's all this is about. That she's not ready to like physical contact with him so very much. But she does. So she shoves again, at the same time answering, "You should already know."

He parries again and sees the little smile pulling at the edge of her lips as she glances down at the mat.

_She's enjoying this, _he realizes. "You want to do this, Kate?"

She looks back at him through her eyelashes with a predatory look and grins.

Castle smiles. "Well, let's go." He lunges for her.

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><p><em>x<em>

_Please review! They're addictive like staring at those two pictures I linked to at the top of the page. _


	4. Grappling

Typical male, lunging like he's making a football tackle. He's got size and strength, but she's got speed and agility. If she spins it just right, he'll stumble and land flat on his face. His arm wraps around her waist as she turns with the contact. He doesn't fall, despite his offensive failure. He straightens up in a ready fighting stance. She aims a side kick at his chest, and he blocks it, but she wheels around into a high crescent kick. He ducks and lightly kicks the back of the leg she's supporting herself on before she completes her kick. Her knee buckles, and she falls.

Castle smiles. He grabs her wrist and pulls her back to her feet.

Beckett can't believe he knocked her down first. She really didn't think he'd hit back.

She steps back to decide how to take him. She appraises her prey. His broad chest pulls his shirt tight. His arms bulge from the shirt's cuffs. If she sweeps his feet from under him and uses her body weight to pull him down, she could have him on his back. And that sounds _fantastic_.

She circles, trying to get a better angle.

He is really enjoying this. There was no way he can lose. Even if she pins him, he'll make sure she has to hold him to the floor, and that still sounds like a win to him. But he intends to try to win the actual match, as well. And right now, he has one distinct advantage; it's time to use it.

"So, Beckett? I know you've been dying to check out my tattoo, but that peep show kind of surprised me."

Her eyes widen. He lunges again. She doesn't think to turn in time.

He puts her flat on her back, his body off centered but very much on top of her.

This time he doesn't pull her right back up. While she's still stunned from hitting the mat (and his delicious proximity), he whispers in her ear, "That's two," then stands up.

_He did it again?_ She can't believe one mention of the peep show distracted her that much. She sits up.

"It wasn't much of a peep show, Castle." _More like a full length feature film._

"Yeah, I know, Kate. Peep shows are much too _short_." His smirk shows that he knows exactly which gutter her mind is in.

He reaches out a hand to help her up. She takes it, pulls downward, and thrusts her feet into his abdomen to launch him into an awkward tumble. She lets go of his hand before his shoulder dislocates, but he still feels the pain of over-rotating. She's standing when he looks back, so he rolls himself right back up into fighting stance. One for her.

Kate goes on the offense with a combination of strikes and punches. He blocks and parries most but doesn't try to hit her. She notices and steps closer to land her strikes with even more force. He's able to sidestep while blocking and push her a little. Off balance, she begins to spin back into her stance; but he steps in, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her back tight against his chest.

He knows he could lift her and there wouldn't be anything she could do about it (without inflicting major injury) but he doesn't. They share bad memories of the one time he'd had to do that. He leans down to where his chin brushes against her neck. He is about to comment on how good she smells when she plants one foot between his, holds his forearms, and hip-throws him over her shoulder.

He lands with a loud thud. She steps over him, leans so he can see straight down her shirt and mocks, "And that's two for me."

He reaches up far quicker that she expects and grabs her waist, pulling her down and rolling them over. She uses her hips and legs to keep them rolling and he uses his upper body strength to try and pin her down. She's on top the first time they stop rolling.

"Having fun, Castle?" He can see down her shirt again and wonders what the hell happened to that wall she claimed to have, because he could tell she was leaning down far more than necessary to pin him. He wonders what she'd do if he lifted his head and kissed her chest.

He catches her wrists and rolls them again. They struggle for dominance, then Rick gets her pinned. He holds her wrists tightly on either side of her head and presses his thighs against hers to hold her down.

"Lots of fun, Kate. We should do this every day."

Her chest heaves as she catches her breath. He's so close, and smiling that sexy smile. She's sure that, if she lifted her hips to meet his, she'd find him _very_ happy to see her.

xXx

Their unseen audience outside the door watches in rapt attention. What began as Ryan and Esposito eavesdropping to find out why Hurricane Beckett stormed into the locker room quickly turned into fascination when the sparring match began. Then Karpowski joined them, intent on either asking Beckett a question or seeing the boys still fighting shirtless. The three detectives stare as Castle leans heavily on top of Beckett. To Ryan and Esposito, it looks like Beckett has lost.

"Damn," says Ryan, "I can't believe he beat her."

"He didn't," answers Karpowski, still raptly watching the pair on the mat.

"How do you figure?" asks Esposito.

"She's letting him hold her there. That position is one of the first holds she would have learned to break."

The guys don't get it. "Why?"

"Rape attempt. That's a typical hold for a man to use if he's trying to hold her & still have access to her. If she jerks both hands straight up over her head and at the same time knees his ass, he'll flip right over her head. _She's letting him pin her like that_."

For the first time in the conversation, the guys look away from the glass at their curly-haired co-worker, surprised. Then they go back to watching.

"Huh" is their only response, uttered by Ryan.

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><p>x<p>

_Please review! The good feeling they give me is addictive like learning cool stuff in tae kwon do, juijitsu, and aikido. Yeah, I'm a badass._

_And, ladies, that is how you get out of a rape hold. Make sure you do it super fast, crunching your abs hard. Nail his balls, too, if you can. It'll at least knock him off balance enough to give you a chance to get away. Find someone bigger than you and practice it until you can do it. Every woman should know this move._


	5. More

Kate knows without a doubt how she can get out of this hold. One swift movement with both arms and one leg. But that could really hurt him _down there_, and she doesn't particularly want to do that. She thinks she can probably get out of it without the nut-shot... since he's obviously distracted by the tiny beads of sweat glistening on her chest and by how her green tank top has ridden up to the bottom of her ribs, exposing the soft skin of her entire stomach.

"Rick?" She draws out his first name.

He looks into her eyes. "Mmm?" is all he can manage to say since she'd just interrupted his thoughts of them in this postion in his bed.

"Please don't bruise my wrists. I'd hate to have to explain that to my dad."

He immediately lets go, and she pushes him off of her forcefully. They are both on their feet in a heartbeat. They're both breathing heavily from exertion and desire and slowly circle while trying to slow their racing hearts.

She smiles, ready to get back into the fight.

He's not as sure. "I didn't really hurt you did I?"

"Nope. It was either say that, or knee your boys. I figured you'd appreciated the less painful option."

His lips pucker and head nods in agreement. A lopsided smile pops onto his face as he shifts his weight to his back foot.

He shocks the hell out of her by throwing a wheel kick and shocks her even more that it is too fast for her to avoid. She blocks, but it still glances off her shoulder; she spins her fall into a sweep that knocks his feet from under him; she pounces as he falls, pinning him firmly, sitting square on his hips with her knees on the floor, and pushing his shoulders down with her palms. She grips harder than necessary, holding tight to his muscles. She tells herself it's so he can't get up so easily but recognizes her own lie.

Kate's hair falls around her flushed face as she pants for air.

He squirms to test her hold, not convinced he wants to keep playing this game. He reaches to her waist, his large hands firmly pulling her fully on top of him. She can feel _just how much_ he is enjoying this. Her eyes darken, and she's done playing, too.

He lightly taps the floor twice then returns his hand to hold her on top of him.

"Quitting?" She's disappointed.

"Most definitely not."

"Oh." She, um, thinks she should, maybe, get off of him. Or she'll end up getting off on him.

Karpowski's eyes widen. "He just tapped out? But they're not moving. We should go."

Esposito agrees. "Yeah." Ryan nods.

None of them move.

Kate feels Rick's muscles relax under her hands. He pushes up on his elbows. Her hair tickles his cheek. He sits up slowly and Kate straightens with him, keeping herself only inches from him. His hands slide under her shirt and she smiles. She can't decide what to focus on, his eyes, his lips, or feeling him under her. She runs her fingers through his hair.

"If I knew sparring would have gotten us here," he said quietly, "I would have kicked your butt a long time ago." His eyes twinkle with humor.

"_Oh, really_? I seem to recall you going down just as much as I did," she retorts with mock indignation.

"Pun intended? Because if that's an offer..." He leans closer and slides one hand up to cradle the back of her head.

She wants to answer that she didn't intend a double meaning of "going down," and but the idea of it, how close he is now, and how intimately he's holding her makes her only able to sigh.

She's always done so well at hiding how much he affects her, but she's also been showing him a lot more of her feelings ever since coming back. She really didn't intened for this to happen... here. In a room that smells of sweat and disinfectant. But this close, all she can smell is his scent, his sweat, his soap. All she can feel is heat off of him and her own heart pounding. All she can see is his eyes and his mouth, and _god_ she wants to taste that mouth.

He wants to make her work for it. But he's drowning in watching her show how much she wants him. She leans in to kiss him, but he turns an inch. His cheek brushes against hers and his lips ghost on her ear as he whispers, "Oh, did you want something?" His fingers move up her ribs. "What is it you want, Kate?"

She shifts her hips, rocking against him, making them both suck in a sharp breath. He forgets he was trying to tease her a little more and kisses her neck. She moans softly.

"God, Kate, you have no idea how much I've wanted to hear that sound from you again."

"Yes, I do." Her voice conveys pure need. She kisses his jaw. She just wants to kiss him, to moan into his mouth again, to lose all rational thought again. But he seems to be keeping his lips just out of reach.

Of all he wants from her right now, he's surprised to find that honest words are at the top of his list. Her wall is down, and he wants her to talk. He's not being noble; he just needs answers. He pulls her shirt out of the way to kiss from her neck across the top of her shoulder. "You do, huh? Why's that?"

She swallows hard, not sure if she wants to answer. But she's pressed against him fully, feeling his desire in every small touch and kiss and in the pressure beneath her as she rocks her hips again. "Because I've wanted this... for a long time."

The moan this time comes from him. He holds her tightly and rolls them, landing her on her back and him on top of her, propped on his elbows. Her hair is everywhere around her head; she's breathing hard.

He leans down and kisses her slowly, deeply; he can't even think of a metaphor for how satisfying this kiss is. When he pulls away to look in her eyes, he wonders how something so satisfying can leaving him feeling so unsatified... wanting so much more.

"You want this?" he asks again. She nods.

"You want me?" he teases with one raised eyebrow.

"Yes." Kate raises her head for another kiss, but he's got one more question.

"Is this all you want, Kate?"

"Most definitely not." She pulls him back to her for another kiss, a much more passionate kiss, a kiss bordering on frenzied.

Ryan turns and leaves without a word. If Mom & Dad's clothes come off, he doesn't want to see. His exit makes Esposito and Karpowski feel dirty for wanting to watch, so they turn and leave, too. Karpowski almost takes a picture, but decides she would prefer to not be murdered if Beckett ever finds out. The last thing she hears Esposito say as she heads back to her desk is into his cell phone, "Hola, chica! Guess what I just saw!"

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><p>x <em>More tomorrow!<em>

_Please review. They're addictive like ... well, crap, I can't think of anything but sex. Maybe I'll come back and change this sentence later. Just leave me a review, please!_


	6. Interruption

A small part of Kate is beyond thankful that this is happening here. No clothes would be removed. It would be bad enough getting caught making out, so she trusts that neither of them would be so bold as to push any further. In her head, she knows that is a good thing.

But the much larger part of Kate isn't interested in what ther head thinks. She has Rick pressing down on top of her, propped up with one arm so his other hand can explore freely, and she wishes they weren't here in this gym and weren't required to remain fully clothed. In her heart, she knows this is exactly what she wants.

She wants his shirt off (tight and sexy as it is), and hers, too, so she can feel the warmth of his skin on hers. She wants this damn bra off because the kisses he's trailing across her chest are driving her wild; she wants to feel even more. She wants these stupid jeans gone and doesn't think she can take much more of this. His obnoxious boast in their first interview that most of his claims were "on the _large_ side" was _not_ an exaggeration.

Rick is irritated at himself for not walking out of the locker room, grabbing her wrist, taking her home, and doing this right. This shouldn't be done here. His pants are too tight and she is too hot and there's not a damn thing he can do about it except keep kissing her and make it worse because it feels so good. The little sounds she makes are driving him insane and her lips are so soft and warm and her legs are wrapped around him and she just feels so damn good._ Damn, these jeans are so tight_.

xXx

Ryan raises a hand to hail a cab when he sees Gates walking to the building. She wasn't supposed to be there today, either. _Shit._

"Detective Ryan. Were you here training Castle?"

"Yes sir."

"Is he still here? I have a question for him."

"Uh, I don't know. I'll call him and see."

"No, don't. I'll find him."

_Shit. _"Well, he was in the shower a few minutes ago. How about I find him and send him to your office?"

"Fine."

_Shit. That was close. I hope they're still dressed when I go in._

_xXx_

Rick's hand caresses under Kate's shirt as he kisses her again. His thumb grazes over her bra, making her gasp. He's oblivious of everything but Kate. Kate's eyes, Kate's body, Kate's hair, Kate's voice, Kate's breath.

And a banging outside the door, down the hall. Like the mop bucket being kicked against the wall. Getting louder as it gets closer to the door.

Rick pushes himself up quickly, reaching a hand to pull Kate up. He smooths his hair back down and she pulls her shirt straight as Ryan opens the door.

He at least pretends to not know what was going on. "Oh, there you two are." He can't help it; they both look so flustered: "What... were you just doing? Should I come back later?" His grin accuses them and mocks them, but doesn't let on that he already knows the truth.

Kate is a lovely shade of crimson and avoids Ryan's eyes.

So Rick answers. "Uh, we were just sparring." The old Rick never would have tried to hide this. But_ this_ Rick doesn't want Kate to be embarrassed.

"_Yeah, sure_. Anyway, Gates wants to talk to you."

"Me, or us?"

"Oh, you're an 'us' now?" Ryan's going to have fun with this for a while.

He sees Castle's eyebrows jump a tiny bit, involuntarily answering for him.

"Just you. She doesn't know Beckett's even here. And... I'd keep it that way if I were you. She doesn't need to see you all hot & bothered. From 'sparring.'" He makes quotation marks with his fingers in the air then lets the door slam before they can deny it.

Kate slumps against Rick, who laughs. "Well, that was a little embarrassing."

She buries her head against his chest. "I hope nobody saw us." Her voice is muffled by his shirt.

He wraps his arms around her and lifts until her toes are barely touching the ground. He kisses her slowly and deeply, putting as much desire and love into it as he can. When he pulls back, he whispers, "You don't get to pretend this didn't happen."

She lets out a breathy laugh. "Good."

He's surprised and relieved by her answer, so he asks for more. "Want to get lunch with me?"

"Um, I..." She sees the disappointment in his eyes at her stammering. She continues, "I've got files out on my desk. Gates will know I'm here. Help me get away from her, and I'm yours."

Yes, he does love her word choice.

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><p><em>Please review! They're addictive like Southern Butter Pecan flavored coffee creamer. Yum!<em>


	7. Can't focus

_And I'm back! Sorry for the absence; I've been beta-ing an awesome story for fanfic's sister site. Two chapters have been posted, and if you like my writing, you'll like this new author. I am the proof-reader, after all! You should read it and review - the website doesn't have nearly the traffic as this one, so reviews are appreciated even more. _www. fictionpress .com/s/2956720/1/Bolivia (_Remove the 2 spaces.)_

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><p><em>Previously: Rick &amp; Kate were sparring, which turned into making out; until Ryan interrupted and said Gates wanted to talk to Castle.<em>

Castle kisses Kate again, then pulls his keys out of his pocket. He twists the key ring until one comes off in his hand. "I don't think I'd get away with kissing you like that in a restaraunt. So... how about you go get us lunch, whatever you'd like, and take it to my place? I'll deal with Gates. Then I'll meet you there." He places his key in her palm, then pulls out a crisp hundred dollar bill from his wallet. Her mouth opens to object, but he kisses her again, then murmers against her lips, "I'm buying you lunch, even if you're the one to order it and take it home."

If he wasn't so delicious smelling like soap and _him_, it might have been possible to tell him no. Maybe. Possibly. Probably not. Because she'd known she wanted this ever since he'd invited her to the Hamptons. And now, she's sure it'll be even better, because she knows she doesn't just have a crush. She isn't just flattered that the sexy author - her favorite author - wants to hang out with her.

She wants everything of him and wants to learn to give everything of herself to him. She's not just wondering if maybe it is worth a shot. She knows it's worth a shot. She doesn't want to keep pushing him away.

They walk out together into the hallway, noticing the yellow rolling mop bucket near the double doors. "No mop," Castle pointed out.

Kate cringes in realization of what that means. "_Crap_. He made noise because he knew what were doing? Please, God, no."

Rick just smiles. Why bother to keep it secret? They'd all figure it out anyway. And if Ryan saw, as they suspect, their whole group already knows.

They walk down the stairs together, but Kate stops just before they reach the homicide floor. Two steps below her, Rick turns to see why she's stopped. He expects embarrassment, maybe panic.

But he gets a smile. She tugs him back to her. He has to look up to her when she leans down to kiss him, fully and deeply, and he likes that angle. "Don't be too long, Rick."

Her sultry tone makes him want to run in, jam the files in the drawer, tell Gates to hold her horses until Monday - he's got better things to do - then run back out and press Kate against the stairwell wall. It wasn't any less private than the gym. He could get to third base before she objected; he's sure of it.

Gates is in her office and sees him the moment he appears in the bullpen. She's surprised by his tee shirt, and the muscles it shows off. His tailored suits certainly don't do him justice. While seeing his strength makes her feel better about his safety, his present action ticks her off. He doesn't come straight to her office as she expects; he stops at Beckett's desk and puts two files in her drawer. He pauses a moment with a confused look when he sees the labels on the files. Then he turns to her and approaches her open door.

"Captain. You wanted to see me?"

"I want to know how you think you're doing in your training."

"Oh. Great. I'm coming to really love sparring."

He hears Karpowski choke on her drink somewhere in the bullpen.

"Good. I want to see."

"Pardon me?"

"I want to see your progress."

"Okay, when?"

"Now's good."

"Uh, my sparring partners have all left, and I'm not going to fight _you_."

She smirks, because he always fights her.

"I'm sure I can find some uniform around here that wouldn't mind taking you down. Or maybe a robbery detective."

_Damn, Demming? That woman knows her stuff. _

"I don't mind showing you my progress, but I have other plans today, and I really need to go. Rain check?"

Gates decides to let him off the hook. But not before one last question: "What was on Beckett's desk that you put away?"

_She left out files - looks bad for her. I was looking at files - looks bad for me. What's the right answer? A lie._

"I thought she was coming in earlier, and wanted to show her something. So I put them out for her to see while I was working out. But she had something else come up, so I put them away." _How's my poker face? The only thing that came up for Kate... was my Knight._

Gates doesn't really believe him, but has no better explanation for the files. So she lets it go. This time. "Next time, Castle, just tell her. Don't pull out official files on your own, and never leave files lying around. This is your_ only _warning."

Castle blows out a long breath of relief as he walks out of the captain's office. Karpowski smirks as he passes her, whispering, "Nice save, Loverboy."

He shoots her a look of 'Oh crap, what did you see?' but she smiles and walks away.

* * *

><p>"Hawaiian food?" He's impressed. It's been a long time since he's had Hawaiian.<p>

"Hot. Sweet. Has a kick. Appropriate for the day, I thought." Kate had already set two places at his bar, unpacked the take-out bag, and poured two glasses of iced tea. She doesn't touch him, though, for fear that she'll lose all restraint and end up being ravished on his kitchen island. That doesn't sound like a bad idea at all.

They begin spooning food onto their plates. "So... what did Gates want?"

"To see me fight. Check my mad skills."

Kate almost sprays tea out of her nose from laughing while swallowing.

"No, really? What did she really want?"

"_What?_ I did pretty well against you, and I held back-"

"_You what_?"

"Come on. I'm not going to hit you, Kate. Grab you, tackle you, kiss you senseless," he gives her a hungry look, "that I can do. But I won't hit you."

_The kissing me senseless part sounds really good right about now. Except he held back in the fight? _She can't let that slide.

"Rematch. I'll wipe that smug grin right off your face."

"Okay. After lunch, though. I'm hungry." He sits there, like they were discussing the weather and eats his lunch.

She looks at him, bewildered. _Two can play this game._ She takes a bite of pineapple ham and puts on a blank expression; all the while thinking of slamming him on his back again. Then pinning him down again. And settling down, pressing against him. Then kissing him again.

"Oh, and Kate? What were those files doing on your desk?" The files. She was mad. Now she remembers why.

"Is that why you stormed into the showers? Or did you just want to see me naked? If that's the case, all you had to do was ask."

_He was naked. Very naked. And wet. And steamy. And tattooed. And how have I not seen those muscles before? The way the water-_

"You're lucky Ryan and Esposito were the only other ones in there, or you could have gotten a sexual harassment complaint."

_Yeah, they were naked too. _Images flashed through her mind quickly. She normally thought of them as brothers, but not at that moment. Definitely not brothers.

Kate looks at Castle. He is watching her. They way his eyes dance, she knows that he knows her thoughts. All three of those mighty fine men, naked and wet. It's more than a girl can handle. Especially a girl who hasn't gotten any since before she was shot. Crimson creeps up her neck until her cheeks and ears feel hot.

Rick leans in to where his nose and lips touch her ear. "You're so cute when you're embarrassed." He kisses her ear. He abandons his fork to swivel towards her. One hand threads into her hair, while the other trails up her thigh.

* * *

><p><em>More tomorrow!<em>

_A/N: Please review! They're addictive like that story I linked to at the top of the page!_


	8. Good feelings

"I thought you were hungry, Rick," she murmers as he makes her squirm with his tongue behind her ear.

"I am." He doesn't stop.

"But the mango bread is pretty good," she teases, absolutely loving what he's doing to her.

"Oh. Okay." He breaks all contact with her and pops some bread in his mouth. "Mmm. You're right."

She almost whimpers at him stopping - he had to know she was just playing when she said that.

He laughs at the expression on her face. "What? Oh, you didn't really want me to stop?" He can tease her, too.

He takes another bite. And almost chokes when she slides her hand around his bicep, pulls him to her, touches his jaw with her tongue, and moans.

She chuckles, "You're so easy, Rick."

"Mmm hmm. Like you've been the definition of challenging today."

He flexes his arm - her hand is still around it - and she lets out an involuntary, "Oh."

He laughs again. "That's what I thought."

"What?"

"Don't play innocent with me, Kate. I know you want me." He runs one finger up her spine. "I know you're barely..." he lightly touches the nape of her neck "...hanging on..." and pulls her closer to him "...by one..." he leans in "...single..." and cups the back of her head "...thread." Rick closes the small gap, his lips an inch from hers, and he waits for her.

His hair tickles her forehead and she tilts forward to kiss him. Their hands are all over as their lips and tongues engage almost violently. She loses any and all control at the feel of his muscles hard under her hands. She expected the author to be a lot softer. She likes this. She wants him. _Good god_, she _wants_ him.

He wants to pick her up and carry her to his bed and strip her down and touch and kiss every square inch of her body. He wants to make her writhe in ecstasy. He wants to show her just how much he loves her. And wants her. _Really, really, really wants her_.

He doubts he'd get away with carrying her, so he stands, pulls her to her feet, never stops kissing her, and starts to guide her back to his room.

She pushes him against the wall and slips her hands under his shirt, feeling his muscles tense to her touch. _Can I take him right here?_

Breathless, she manages, "Don't you have a bed somewhere in this place?"

With that green light, he lifts her by her ass, her legs wrap around him, they kiss like there's no tomorrow, and the next thing she knows is there's a soft surface under her back and her Rick on top of her.

She wants his clothes off. "Can I see your tattoo? You said all I had to do was ask."

He'd wanted to savor the first time with her, slowly. Right now, he decides to savor the second time. This time, he's gonna make her pant and moan, maybe even scream.

* * *

><p>Turns out, they savored the second time <em>and<em> the third time. The third time had plenty of screaming, too, though.

The sun had set, and the half-lunch they'd shared had worn off.

Kate's stomach growls, taking her attention away from toying with his chest hair.

He laughs. "Wow, what an awful host I am, taking a lady away from her meal, wearing her out, and not even offering her a snack to keep her energy up."

She is in a generous mood, so she plays along. "Yeah, you're terrible. Keeping me in your bed, unable to walk to the kitchen for even a morsel."

She watches him understand the "unable to walk" part and pride dawn on his face. She'd said that to men before, and always got that reaction, but this is the first time it hadn't been an exaggeration, and it was the first time she saw the pride equally mixed with love.

She's supposed to have a wall around her heart. But it's in shambles; rubble laying at her feet.

He brings a plate of fruit and ham to the bed, glad that she hadn't bought food that would spoil from sitting out all afternoon. He offers to turn on a movie. She accepts and snuggles against him. They eat, enjoy half the movie, then start round four.

* * *

><p>At some point, Rick slips out to put away the food. Kate pulls on her underwear and one of his tee shirts. He stays in his boxers. Sleep comes easily; they are completely worn out and comfortable in each other's arms.<p>

In the morning light, they finally shower (round five), dress, and have breakfast.

She sees Rick coming out of his office, twisting a key onto his keyring. For some reason, it saddens her. One day into this, and she's disappointed that he took his key back - seriously, did she really think he'd already give her a key? Okay, he'd want to do that, but she'd never accept it, so he wouldn't bother offering. So why was she having trouble acting like she didn't want his key, to be able to slip into his bed if she had a nightmare she couldn't shake, or if she just needed him. Physically, emotionally, whatever.

Yeah, she needs him. She's all his. She has a hickey on her hip to prove it. And he has bite marks on his shoulder.

Breakfast is sweet and comfortable and perfect. They talk and laugh and feel _light_. It's a _good_ feeling.

They decide to go on a walk, hand in hand, and the morning is cooler than she expected. She loves the warmth of his larger hand enveloping hers. She smiles even bigger when she sticks her other cold hand in her pocket... and feels the key from yesterday. She won't mention it, but she will keep it.

* * *

><p><em>Please review! They're addictive like homemade cream cheese danish.<em>


	9. A real date

_Sorry to those of you who were disappointed that I didn't detail the sex scene. You've got great imaginations; you'll live. But I just can't get that dirty. (Although one of the funniest reviews was after Ryan walked away from watching them spar in case Mom & Dad's clothes came off, someone wrote "They're not my mom & dad, I want to watch!") But the story as it is is a HUGE stretch for me, WAY outside my comfort zone, and that's where the line ended up being drawn in my head._

* * *

><p>Kate remembers the files and decides to let it go for the day. This is a day she wants to enjoy. She doesn't mind that she's in the same clothes as yesterday; since she was naked for most of the day, the clothes aren't really dirty. The alternative is for her to go home and change, and she doesn't want to do that. Although... he <em>could<em> join her. But her undressing would most certainly trigger round six, and she's sure she can't physically handle more sex. Maybe tonight. Maybe.

They buy hot dogs from a street vendor and make their way to the Guggenheim. They stare at the "art" of the Hugo Boss Prize winner: $100,000 in one dollar bills taped in an overlapping grid.

"That's art?"

"The artist likes to use familiar materials in groupings to reveal the nuances of familiarity... or some B.S. like that."

"That's stupid."

"Yep."

They spend the next two hours mocking "art" and marvelling at _art_, holding hands and leaning against each other.

At first, Kate was hesitant, because she was afraid that someone would snap a picture and her private life would become public. So Rick bit the bullet and told her, "It's too late... if you're worried about people knowing. Karpowski called me 'Loverboy' before I left the precinct yesterday. If she knows, everybody knows."

Kate blushed deep crimson, part in embarrassment and part in anger at herself for letting it get out of hand in the gym. But then Rick made it better, squeezing her hand and kissing her cheek, "Did you really want to put all that effort into keeping us a secret? We wouldn't be any more successful than Lanie and Esposito were."

She smiled. "Didn't you write something like in your last book?"

"You know exactly what I wrote."

True. She could probably quote the entire scene where Lauren and Miguel were trying to sneak around and Nikki thought is was as futile as when she and Rook were trying to hide their relationship. Heck, she could probably quote the entire book.

Having made their way up the museum's spiral ramp and back down, Kate asks, "Movie?"

Sitting for two hours sounds like a really good idea. Especially if they go to one of those theaters with armrests that can raise up out of the way. Having Kate cuddle into his side with his arm around her sounds devine.

They don't care what they watch. It doesn't matter if they sit in a theater watching trailers for a few hours. They are together; that's all that matters. They stifle laughs while mocking the dialogue in whispers. They hold each other and feel like teenagers on their first date. And it is wonderful.

They decide on a nice dinner, so Rick takes Kate home so she can get ready. It's silly, how she feels getting ready for their date. She's spent more than 24 hours straight with the man, and after watcing him drive away, she wants him to come back. As she showers and dresses and puts on a little makeup, she can't wait for him to come back and pick her up. She knows that when she opens the door, he'll look sexy as hell, and she won't have to push down the butterflies like she always has. She feels hopelessly rediculous for the first time in over a decade. She likes it.

Rick doesn't walk around his loft while getting ready for their date. He dances. He slides on sock feet into the bathroom; he dances while he bathes; he hums while he shaves; he keeps his shoulders bouncing to a beat while he dresses. He's taking Katherine Beckett on an actual date. She'd spent the day and night in his bed, then spent another day just hanging out with him. Life is good.

They go to a restaraunt that Kate had never been to before, one that is exquisite without being snooty. She loves it. She expects to meet someone Rick knows or see some celebrities, but is surprised to recognize a face among the patrons: one of her father's old friends. Sometimes she forgets her old life, where she grew up as a well-to-do little girl with plenty of options. She smiles and nods at him as she and Rick are escorted to their table, and eventually the man comes over to visit. Kate stands to give him a hug.

"Hey, there, Katie! It's been so long! Look at you! Just as much a vision as ever! And who is this lucky gentleman?"

Rick stands, and Kate introduces them.

"Ah, Richard Castle. I've heard good things about you."

Rick laughs, "Don't believe everything you read in the paper."

The man grins, "I don't. But I do believe what Katie's dad has told me." He winks. "You two have a great night. Nice to meet you, Rick."

As the man walks away, Rick looks a little mystified. "What has your father been saying about me?"

She just shakes her head. "I have no idea. But he's never said anything good about a man in my life to his buddies, ever. He must really like you."

"Huh."

Dinner is delicious; almost as delicious as the kiss in the car awhen they get back to her building.

"Do I get to come up? First date and all." He smirks.

She laughs. "I guess we did things in the wrong order. Yes, you can come up."

She notices his overnight bag he carries in, but doesn't say anything about it. Instead, she calls over her shoulder as she walks to her bedroom, "I'm going to change clothes. Get comfortable."

That's a bit of a catch-22 for him. How comfortable should he get? He takes off his coat and tie and shoes and unbuttons the top button of his shirt. Then he just takes a chance and goes back to her room. The door is open; he leans against the door frame to watch her change. He knows she heard him coming, so he doesn't announce himself.

She has a tee shirt and yoga pants on her bed and has put her shoes away. She walks over to him, turns around, and pulls her hair out of the way. He takes the cue to unzip her dress. Slowly. He lets his knuckle drag down her back as he pulls the zipper. His other hand is warm on her shoulder, pushing the dress away from her neck. She sighs. He drops a sweet kiss on her neck and one on her exposed shoulder. He slides his hands across both her shoulders, causing her dress to fall to the floor.

He wraps his arms around her from behind, pulling her nearly nude body to him. He nuzzles her neck and her ear and her hair and whispers, "I've had a wonderful weekend with you." He kisses her ear. "I don't want it to end."

She turns and wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him softly. "Who says it has to? I could call in sick tomorrow."

His eyebrows shoot up. "You'd do that?"

"No." She laughs. "But you can stay the night, if you want-"

He rolls his eyes, "_If I want_."

"-and we can have breakfast, and we can do it again next weekend." She kisses him again. "And the next."

He holds her tighter. "Music to my ears. So... are you getting dressed, or am I getting undressed?"

She unbuttons his shirt and slides her palms up his stomach and across his chest, then pushes his shirt off his shoulders. "Just be gentle with me, Rick."

An hour and a half later, she pours two glasses of wine and turns on the radio. They curl up on the couch, talking for hours until they fall asleep.

* * *

><p><em>Please review! They're addictive like sleeping in the hammock on a cool night in a warm sleeping bag.<em>


	10. Spit take

Captain Gates watches them walk in together Monday morning. In fact, it looks like everybody watches them walk in together. She sees a few detectives and officers exchange cash.

She cocks an eyebrow, wondering if all of that means what she thinks it means.

There's one way to find out.

"Castle, Beckett. In the gym."

Beckett does a spit-take. "Wha?" She doesn't even try to wipe up the coffee she just sprayed.

"In cashing in my rain check Mr. Castle offered. I want to see how he's progressing with his fighting skills."

Esposito interrups, and Kate's thankful. Until she comprehends his words. "Sir? Can we watch? It would... uh... help me to know what he needs to work on with me not being in the ring with him." He smiles and rocks on his feet like he does when he's just managed to tell a bald-faced lie and made it sound semi-believable.

Eyes from around the room that were wide now snap to Esposito then back to Gates.

"Sure. Fifteen minutes, you two."

"But, Captain... I really don't... um... have clothes for sparring." It's the only thing Castle can think of to stall.

"Room full of men here, Castle. Surely someone's got a clean shirt and some shorts you can borrow."

"Or just shorts," mumbles Karpowski, not meaning for anyone to actually hear her.

Kate shoots her a shocked look.

Castle follows the Captain. "I'm really not okay with hitting a woman, not even one as tough as her," he whispers.

"Is that so? And what if a female suspect attacks you? Or jeopardizes someone else's safety? If you're going to freeze up because of that, then you can get out of here _now. _And not come back."

"But that's different. That's not-"

"Not her? Is the problem really that it's Beckett? Not just a random female?"

He shrugs. He doesn't know what the "right" answer is to that question.

"Fourteen minutes." She shuts her office door in his face.

He looks across to Beckett, who is still standing in the same spot, with the same "Oh, crap" look as he has on his face.

Ryan walks by and pats Castle on the back. "No worries, man. You've sparred with her before, right?" He (and everyone who heard him) chuckles and walks off.

Rick walks over to Kate and softly says, "What are we going to do?"

"We.. are going to... um... we can do this." She sets her jaw and takes a deep breath. "We can do this. I wanted a rematch anyway. Don't hold back this time."

She turns to head to the stairs then stops short with a thought. "Castle - with the fighting. Don't hold back with the fighting. For God's sake, _please_ hold _everything else _back."

* * *

><p><em>I promised a chapter a day, and I don't have time for more today. But I hope this is a good teaser for tomorrow!<em>

_Please review! They're addictive like that "Bolivia" story I linked to two days ago. What? You didn't read it? Imma hafta smack you! Go read it!_

_ http:/www. fictionpress. com/s/2956720/1/Bolivia (Remove the spaces before and after fictionpress. Leave reviews, but don't mention I sent you there!) _

_It's about two young women taking a trek through the Bolivian Andes on a mission (the mission hasn't been revealed yet), and have lots of fun and get in plenty of trouble along the way. They're a bit of a young, hot, female, badass Odd Couple. _


	11. Bring it

Beckett thought she'd wanted to see how well Castle could do fighting her. She knows she's good. She knows that she didn't do as well as she could have in their first sparring session because she had just seen him in the shower. Check that - gawked at him, steamy, bubbly, and wet. And they were alone, where they could let their attraction distract them from the fight. So she really does want to know how good he really is. In the ring, that is - she's already completely convinced of how good he is in his bed.

But standing in the ladies' locker room, looking at the gym clothes bunched in her fist, she's not so sure. Does she really want him to hit her? No. She only said that because she wanted to beat him at his best. She was being cocky. But what if she can't actually block everything he throws? Would she be okay with Rick actually hurting her? Probably not. But he'd pull his punches if he sees it's actually about to connect, right? Probably so.

Plus, if they forget they have an audience for a second, they could embarrass themselves further. And she knows that his reaction to an attacking suspect, even a female one, would be different from sparring with her. She knows how he can handle himself in the field because she's seen him do it.

But Gates hasn't, and this fight is for her. Crap. She's got to do it. So her partner doesn't get booted.

* * *

><p>A 6'5" uniformed officer comes up to Castle. "I've got some clean gym clothes folded in locker 30, if you want to borrow them. But it's gonna be different, ya know, than you guys foolin' around on the mat for fun. You're gonna hafta really hit her."<p>

"Yeah, Chris. I know. Thanks."

He heads up to the locker room feeling doomed. He can't tap out early to avoid a real fight, because then Gates will think he can't fight and will bench him. Maybe he can figure out a way to keep it grappling. Because there's no chance in Hell he's going to actually hit her.

Of course, maybe he won't have to. If Kate finds out that even the uniforms know about their "sparring session" the other day, she'll go ahead and kill him.

He takes the neatly folded clothes from the locker, thankful that they smell like detergent and not some other guy's B.O. and notices two others come in the locker room behind him. The two male detectives on Karpowski's team change into gym clothes, too. One nods and simply says, "Good luck, Castle."

* * *

><p>Beckett's waiting for him, leaning up against the wall outside the locker rooms. "I thought girls were supposed to be the slow ones changing clothes."<p>

He smiles. "You're not a girl."

She quirks a questioning eyebrow. He continues, "You're very much a woman," and smiles.

There is already a small group of cops leaning against the far wall, obviously placing bets. Gates walks in, and several cops look ready to run.

Kate answers, "And don't you forget it. But no flirting in the match."

"No problem. But I'm still gonna win!" He smirks.

She laughs and follows him onto the mat.

* * *

><p>They start opposite each other on the circle painted on the mat. Extremely conscious of their observers, neither wants to make the first move. Gates's "I have other things to do!" causes Beckett to launch herself towards him.<p>

She's fast but controlled, whirlling around in a flurry of kicks and punches. He blocks most, she connects a couple but does no damage. He manages to catch her arm, twist her around, push her away. She throws a side kick that hits him hard in the chest and is instantly close again, with a quick pair of punches in his gut then spinning to elbow him in the same spot. He staggers back with a groan.

Somebody against the wall comments, "Damn, Esposito, I thought you said he could fight." A quick glance to the side confirms Gates is thinking the same thing.

Beckett is light, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "C'mon Castle. Bring me something."

He feignts a right jab and throws a left hook, not meant to hurt, just to unbalance her. It works. She shoves his arm, sets up his spin, and he sweeps her feet. She grabs, pulling him into the fall, but he twists out of it. She cags him, and he falls, too, but not all the way. She's on her back, wraps her legs around his neck to force him down on the mat; but he muscles through it, and her motion ends up rolling her onto her stomach. He grabs her closest arm and throws a punch into her ribs, just barely touching her for the point. He helps her stand.

She grins. "Better."

She shuffles side kicks - he dodges - spinning hook kick - he ducks - wheel kick - he gets nailed but grabs her around her waist. He can't beat her ninja moves, but he can out-muscle her, and they both know it.

He does what he refused to do in their first fight - he bear hugs her, trapping her arms against her, lifts her at an angle so she can't kick him, and doesn't let go. She tries to twist and power free, so he drops to the mat and pins her. He whispers, "I'm sorry." Maybe doing what he had to do in the hangar was worse than hitting her.

She taps out so he releases her. She sighs and whispers, "It's okay."

They hear a pleased "Hmm" from Gates.

They get up, tired; hoping they're done. Hoping, because their audience is making this very not-fun.

But then Gates distracts them from their memory by barking a command at the other two detectives Castle saw in the locker room.

Two-on-two, to see how Castle and Beckett do as a team.

Kate looks at her partner; he looks like a kid in a candy store... who's about to smooth talk his way into free samples of everything. Happy, excited, cunning. She smiles. _This'll be fun._

With them still in the center of the mat, the other two split up to flank them.

* * *

><p><em>Please review. Life's been crappy the last few days. Writing fluff is hard when you're hurt and angry. So I'm finally getting back in the mood. The next update will be more fun, with them fighting together. Oh yeah... reviews are addictive like sticking a spoon into the peanut butter jar then into the nutella jar - better than Reese's!<em>


	12. Two on two

Karpowski's two partners, both tall and strong, circle at the edge of the mat. Beckett turns so that she was back to back with Castle. She grins and begins with a veiled taunt: "Okay, Castle. Stubby is into Chinese boxing, and Cricket likes kickboxing, but that's just because he's got slow hands."

The muffled laughter almost makes it to where they miss Rick's reply of, "That's what she said." The crowd laughs, and the men chuckle like it didn't bother them. Using their ill-begotten nicknames has the same effect as if she'd called Ryan "Honeymilk" in the ring.

They turn together, totally in tune with each other's movement.

A few people make bets against the wall, mostly against Castle. Stubby and Cricket are two of the best fighters in the department. Karpowski sits with a silly smile, wondering if she'll ever get to see them and the boys from Beckett's team all fight together without shirts. That would be a niiiiice day. She'd need to start keeping a video camera in her locker.

Castle jibes, "You guys are supposed to be the bad guys. You should attack first," and immediately, both men lunge forward. Castle deflects a string of jabs uppercuts, and palm strikes, and manages to elbow the guy in the cheek in the process. Beckett steps toward her attacker, both in an intense tangle of kicks, spins, and close quarter strikes. For several long, punishing minutes, they have two separate fights going, both evenly matched, both fierce.

Stubby throws a weird combination of punches, strikes that look like he's throwing a baseball side-arm, and downward ones like he's chopping wood. Castle's never seen strikes like that and uses every block he can think of to not get tagged. He punches back quickly, earning several points so he's not totally embarrassed. He grabs Stubby and throws him backward some, giving himself some room to move. He gets several good kicks in, evening the match quite well.

Cricket releases a flurry of kicks; Beckett deftly dodges, blocks, and spins away. She kicks at him right back, striking his jaw, sending him spinning. He looks pissed. He shuffles in to side kick her, but she steps in and catches his leg and yanks him, stealing his balance, and he falls past her. He's really pissed. Down on one knee, he flicks the other foot up, fast as lightning, rams his heel into her gut then swings it back around in a crescent to clock her across her temple.

Rick sees Kate take the hit hard and stagger and Cricket back up to get a running start. Stubby takes advantage of Castle looking over and punches him in the face. Castle ignores his busted lip and hits his guy as hard as he can with both hands at the same time - one fist square in the chest, the other a palm strike under his chin knocking his head back - sending him backwards, gasping. Castle glances over his shoulder to see Becket still reeling and her guy leaping into a flying side kick. Castle bolts over, crashes into the guy before he reaches Kate. Something primal in him had kicked in, and he's forgotten where he is or why he's there. Protecting Kate is all there is. As Cricket slams to the floor, Castle's fist rears back for a crushing blow.

"_Castle_." Kate's gasping voice stops him.

Someone in the audience mutters, "Fuckin' A."

Castle stands and smiles, pulling his flattened opponent to his feet. He knows the smile looks fake, that the other detective can see the threat in his eyes, but he can't afford for Gates to think he'd lost his self-control.

All four chests are heaving.

They look to Gates to see if she's seen enough. "Break," is all she says. She stares at her watch.

Castle blows out a long, slow breath and visibly relaxes. He turns to tenderly ask Kate, "You okay?" He touches her temple, very gently in case it hurts, and searches for any sign of swelling. He tries to not let the lingering touch look like a caress. Though he knows that's really exactly why he's touching her.

"I'm good. But your lip's not." Oh yeah. He'd forgotten about that in his concern for her. He presses the back of his hand to his lip to stop the bleeding.

She nudges his shoulder with hers. "You're doing really well." He smiles at her compliment and the slipperiness of her skin against his, both of them so sweaty. He immediately wants to be alone to have more hot, sweaty skin-on-skin contact with her.

"Later," she whispers. "I know what you're thinking."

He smirks, "That means you were thinking it, too." She just smiles.

"They look a little worse for wear, too." Stubby has a smudge of blood under his nose and Cricket is favoring one foot.

Gates's voice cuts short their evaluation of their opponents. "All right. I'd like to see grappling. No kicks or punches." Their break had been exactly one minute.

Castle would have really liked to have heard her remind the other team that this was point-fighting, but then he wonders if she instructed them to street fight so she could properly evaluate them.

All four have almost gotten their breathing back under control, and shift to fighting stances. There, they pause for a few more deep breaths. Castle decides to start round two. He rushes Cricket, hoping the big man isn't such a good fighter when he can't kick. Cricket tries to capture him, arms around Castle's ribs, and roll with him to try to pin him. Like a high school wrestling match. Castle easily flips them over, landing with his forearm against Cricket's throat. But he's shoved hard, and they're both back on their feet.

Beckett watches them, expecting Stubby's attack far sooner that it actually comes. Apparently, he needed longer to catch his breath. But he waits for Beckett to be distracted by the other two then grabs her from behind, one arm around her waist, the other forming a choke-hold, just as Castle and Cricket reach their feet. Castle glances at her with a flash of alarm. She smiles and throws the big man over her shoulder onto the mat between their two partners.

Castle shuffles out of reach to jab, "Don't try that on her. She can throw you. Just so you know."

But Cricket's still pissed and can't take the joke aimed at his partner. "Don't worry, writer boy. She can get a few lucky shots in. Doesn't mean she can take out a suspect while having to babysit you."

They circle again, this time very close together.

Stubby grabs Castle from behind, jerks him up unexpectedly and throws him to the floor like a rag doll as Cricket lunges to try and take down Kate. He roughly grabs her neck and pulls, bringing a knee up into her ribs, as she hooks a foot behind his leg that holds him up; she crashes down on him but he wraps his legs around her torso to force her away; Castle jerks Stubby's shirt to fling him off to the side, rolling away from him to reach Cricket's arm, twisting it, applying enough pressure to force him to roll over, where Beckett can pull his wrists together. But Stubby's on top of Castle again, and the two wrestle, push, roll, and flip for dominance. Beckett pulls Cricket's arms hard enough to almost dislocate one, and he taps out. Stubby's got Castle pinned in another chokehold, and Beckett's about to jump into the fray, just as Castle did for her, but her partner's strong legs shove the other man hard enough to dislodge his grasp. The shove knocks him backwards into Beckett, where she immediately cags him to drop him into a handcuffing position, too.

Castle smirks and reaches out to her, fingers touching for her to "feed the birds." She lets go of her opponent to indulge her partner in his silly gesture of celebration.

She stands, while Castle offers a hand to Stubby. Cricket remains silent, sulking, but Stubby smiles broadly, "Damn, man, I had no idea you could fight like that. And the two of you together are really damn good."

They all turn to Gates, three of them smiling, all of them panting.

Kate nudges Castle's shoulder with hers again, and neither of them voicing any of their thoughts about slick hot bare-skinned contact.

Gates watches, face blank. "Hit the showers."

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><p><em>AN: Following threatening hate mail for making you wait so long for this update, the next chapter is already written and will be posted in 24 hours. Just kidding about the hate mail - thank you for your encouragement about the sucky things in life. I'm out of my funk, mostly, and will be posting frequently again. Provided things don't go down the crapper again._

_So, please review. They're addictive like the mental images conjured by knowing another shower scene is coming up._


	13. Hot & wet

Kate walks to the locker room. She doesn't strut or saunter, even though she has every right to be proud. Proud of herself and her partner. Her mind is not on the fight she lost to Castle or the fight she won with Castle.

It's on those three men walking into the locker room a few feet away. One of those men would likely have pummeled her if Castle hadn't kept him from it. He'd never liked her and resented how quickly she'd risen through the ranks. The second was a team player, and she wasn't so sure she could have beaten him in a real street fight, but he was a good guy and she knew he was proud of her and Castle for doing so well today. The third man always had her back. He proved today that he could truly carry his own weight in violent situations, and she didn't have to babysit him. She'd known that for a long time, but it feels good for everyone else to know it, too.

All three of these men are big, tall, and strong. Well defined muscles. Hard bodies. She couldn't care less about two of those bodies, though. One of them ... mmm... she'd seen it for the first time only two days before, in those very showers. She glances back at the dispersing audience, some of them exchanging cash since Gates left the room first, ordering everyone back to work; Kate sees Karpowski gazing longingly at the men's locker room door._ If anyone needs to get some, it's that woman. And Gates, of course, but that probably only happens if her husband calls her "sir."_ Kate is tempted to go tell Karpowski to just waltz on into the men's room. The sight is worth the possible write-up in her file. It really is.

The door shuts behind her. _Except I don't want her looking at my partner. He's mine. _She can hear their muffled voices through the wall.

She steps into a stall and pulls the curtain, turns the tap to let the water heat up, pulls her hair into a ponytail, then strips. As she steps into the steamy water, she hears the old pipes knock as a shower turns on. She tries to keep her face and hair dry to avoid having to re-do makeup. The voices get a little louder. Another knocking of pipes. The last voice is louder and clearer still. Castle's voice. The third men's shower turns on. Just on the other side of the cinder block wall.

_What is that? Six inches away? Richard Castle, all lathered up in a steamy shower? Again? Yes, please._ She can hear them laughing and harassing each other about the fight. She finds herself lingering, not washing, just listening to his machismo and laughter. _Damn, these walls seem thin._

The deep velvety tones fill her with a warmth that has nothing to do with the hot water. She loves hearing him talk, even when she pretends not to, and especially when he doesn't know she's listening. His voice just has this way of reaching inside her, causing her heart to thump and her nethers to clench. How does he manage to make her so hot and give her chillbumps at the same time?

She realizes she needs to quit listening to his voice, that voice that calms her down and keeps her anchored, because that voice turns her on so very, very much.

She grabs her bar of soap and hurriedly begins to wash off, then hears something about Castle's lip. He says it's fine. _Mmm, his lips. The delicious things they did to me._ Cricket mocks him, saying Beckett was the one to keep him from getting hurt worse, that he shouldn't go starting any fights without his babysitter. That she and her tight little smokin' hot body would get quite a workout trying to keep him out of trouble.

She waits for Castle's reply. A dozen responses run through her mind, mostly about how Castle will be in a world of hurt for engaging in locker room talk about her, when she realizes he didn't answer.

Cricket makes another snide remark. But she doesn't hear Castle's voice at all. Finally, "Maybe your girlfriend will kiss it and make your boo boo all better."

She shouts, "Maybe I will!" The clatter of dropped body wash bottles makes her smile smugly. "And, speaking of little bodies, if you don't want everybody to know where the name, 'Cricket' came from, I suggest you shut up right now!"

Two showers shut off within a minute, but she stays, letting the hot water relax her tense shoulders and back. After another few minutes, she hears, "Kate? Can you hear me?"

"Yeah, Rick."

He's not sure if she's directly on the other side of the wall, or a stall or two down, but it doesn't matter. Both of their voices are low so they won't carry outside these rooms. He tries to bore a hole through the wall with his stare, intent on seeing her wet and naked, right then. He imagines her there, palms pressed to the wall like his. The water cascades down his back over muscles she had no idea were so defined three days ago.

_Shit, she's on the other side of this wall, in the shower, six inches away._

"Want another peep show? I guarantee this one's a lot bigger and better than the surprise one you got the other day."

"I'm sure it is." Does he detect a lustful tone? Or irritated?

"Is that a yes, Kate?"

"You'd better be alone in there."

_Oh my god, is that a yes? Is she seriously going to come in here again? _Images of what he wanted to do to her - with her - fill his vibrant imagination and get him so addled he doesn't hear her speaking.

"- lose my badge, Rick."

He hears the clang of the pipes as her shower turns off. _Lose her badge. What does that mean? Oh! Got it. _

"Tonight, then. Where we won't get caught?" He would do anything to be with her again tonight.

"I don't know. I think I have to babysit. Maybe kiss a few boo boos."

He smirks. "Sounds like a good start. Is that what you're in to? You can be the cheerleader babysitter and I can be a bad little -"

"Shut up!" She hopes he's joking. "We've got to go back to work, Rick. You don't want Gates to hunt you down and find you in your current condition, do you?" _Good gosh, I want to to enjoy his current condition. Now. Not tonight. Now. _

"Ew! Cold shower it is!"

Kate can't help but picture him, skin pink from the hot water, just as turned on as she is (although much more visibly so) from their conversation, trying to calm himself down enough to wait for her shift to be over. She wraps up in a towel and loses herself in the mental image and the memories of the glorious things he did over the weekend. It took all of her strentgh to not walk on in there, wrapped in a towel, let it fall to the floor, then take him right there in the locker room shower. If the men's stalls had curtains, she's almost positive she wouldn't be able to restrain herself. _That man..._

She has no clue how she's going to make it to the end of her shift without pushing him into a closet and having her way with him.

* * *

><p><em>Please review! Reviews are addictive like this pic (remove the spaces). http:www. parade. com/ celebrity/sunday-with/2011/03/13-nathan-fillion .html_


	14. Cool it

She stands there, wrapped in a towel, listening to him hum while he finishes his shower. She's breathlessly hoping he'll come in here, where there is a curtain, and at the same time hopes he doesn't because there's no way she can be quiet enough to remain undiscovered should someone else walk into the room.

She closes her eyes to imagine him in the other side of the wall, covered in suds. She imagines being in there with him, her fingers stroking up and down, up and down his big... _hard..._ chest. And arms, too. Those arms are perfectly lickable. She's feeling flushed again just thinking about his upper body and tries to force her mind to not imagine anything lower on his anatomy. But he wouldn't be humming if he had already turned the water to cold, so she can't help but imagine - no, remember - in vivid detail -

"Rrrrrr! Cold cold cold cold!" She hears him gasping through the wall and laughs out loud at him. "Not funny! You can walk around all hot and bothered and not cause a scene! It's not fair!"

She would normally roll her eyes and make a snide remark about him being so arrogant, thinking it would cause a scene for him to walk around like that, but now that she's seen him at full attention... "Karpowski would faint."

Rick laughs at that and turns off his cold shower. It's not lost on him that Kate just agreed with his boast. He towels off and pulls on his sinfully soft silk boxers. That's what she'd called them when she'd pulled a pair on as shorts at some point over the weekend. _Kate Beckett wore my silk boxers and my tee shirt to lounge around my apartment between rounds of sex in my bed. With me._

Unable to stop his grin, he redresses in his smart, gray, tailored suit. He leaves the top button of his collar open because he's noticed how she watches his adam's apple move when he speaks. The shirt is royal blue because he catches her secretly staring even more when he wears blue... she's done that the whole time he's shadowed her and has never learned that he knows she checks him out, too.

He checks his hair in the mirror. Perfect. _Of course, how could she _not_ check me out? Hmm... that's definitely a thought I don't need to say out loud._

"Kate? Are you about ready?"

"Yeah. Just a minute." She had stood there trying to cool herself down for several minutes and is now finally getting dressed.

She checks herself in the mirror and wonders if she looks pretty today. Usually, she gets dressed confident that she looks good, or at least good enough to chase down killers, but over the last four years she's wondered more frequently what Castle thinks of particular outfits. Of course, she's noticed when he checks her out. Sometimes he doesn't even bother to hide it, like when she was bent down writing on the murder board, and he was unabashedly staring at her ass. She smiles at the memory. She looked over at him, and his eyes slowly made their way up her body, finally meeting her eyes with a wicked grin. She'd straightened up and looked flustered, and Ryan saw the whole silent episode.

It wasn't that she disliked him looking at her like that... it was that she liked it too much.

_I bet I could dress as a bag lady, and he'd still look at me like that._ No man had ever made her feel so wanted. Even so, she still touche up her make up. She doesn't even bother to lie to herself and say it isn't to look good for him.

When she finally walks out of the locker room, he's leaning a shoulder against the wall with his back to her, fully engrossed in a game on his phone. She takes in his broad shoulders and closes her eyes to try and push away the memory of what kind of power is hidden under that coat. Closing her eyes only makes it easier to visualise, though. She reaches him in three steps and places a warm, soft kiss on the back of his neck, snaking an arm around him. "Let's get back to work."

He pockets his phone, takes her hand, and leads them to the elevator. She expected him to turn around and kiss her. _How does he have more self control than I do?_

Once the are in the elevator, he pulls her firmly against him and kisses her passionately, just long enough to leave her breathless again. "I might have to do that several times today. Then he pushes the button for the homicide floor.

When they exit the elevator, they're talking and looking perfectly normal. "Coffee?" he offers.

"Yeah. Okay, Ryan, what do we got?" She walks to the other two detectives as Castle heads to the breakroom.

Her fingers tingle when his touch them while passing her her cup. She simply nods at the murder board. "What's it going to be today, Castle? CIA, aliens, or demons?" Her normally mocking smile is gone, now replaced by a sweet smile simply teasing him.

"An alien possessed by a demon being manipulated by the CIA." Esposito grins (mostly because he likes how Beckett is smiling) and Ryan shake his head. "What? check it out. It's a solid theory."

"Yeah, Castle. How is it a solid theory?" She's mocking him a little bit.

He points at a picture on the board. "That woman is an alien - from Jordan - and she's gotten _out of_ so much trouble that it's possible that she's somebody's asset - why not the CIA? - and did you see what kind of trouble she caused? Totally demon posessed. Or just _really_ OCD. Stalking, associating with other known stalkers... I'm glad I don't have a big tree in my back yard. They'd stake their claim on different branches just to see in the windows-"

"Castle! When did this become about women stalking you? So she followed the guy around. That doesn't mean she killed him." Kate looked at him, something worrying her. "Do you have a stalker?"

"Not at the moment, but I have before. Why? Are you jealous?"

"No, that was just rather detailed about the tree." Ryan and Esposito wander back to their desks and pretend to not eavesdrop.

"Oh, yeah. The cabin in Oregon we used to go to had a big tree, and somebody climbed it to peep in." He quiets his voice. "Don't worry. No one will be able to see you in my bed. We could do it on the balcony if you want an audience, though." He grins as she whacks him on his arm.

"Keep it up, and we won't make it to the bed."

Knowing she meant he wouldn't be getting any if he didn't cool it at work, he deliberately misunderstood. He lowered his voice and nearly growled in her ear, "Keeping it up isn't a problem, neither is not making it to the bed. I'm quite sure we won't even manage to make it out of this building."

Her heart pounds, wondering if he'd already found a spot they could sneak off to where they wouldn't get caught. Lunch break would be coming soon, and she might have to satisfy her appetite then.

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><p><em>Please review! I'm addicted to them. They're like the wonderful sound of a good fire crackling, the smell of a campfire, and the warm crispy gooiness of a slightly burnt marshmallow.<em>

_And the "Bolivia" story I linked to has been updated, too. You should go read it. You'll like it. And FanficwriterGHC has a cool original story you might like. The link is on her profile._


	15. Case? What case?

They talk about the possibility of a stalker and check the Jordanian woman's alibi. Castle says to check if she communicates with other known stalkers, especially if it's a foul-mouthed but funny one in Oregon named Jen. Beckett rolls her eyes. "Our killer is _not_ in cahoots with your stalker."

"Castle has a stalker?" Ryan perks up.

"Yeah," Kate eyes Rick with a cocked eyebrow and a sarcastic half-smile, "_apparently_ some women find him irresistible." She rolls her eyes to show she's mocking him but knows he now understands that she, too, falls into that category. He purses his lips a little, not quite concealing the smile playing at the corners of his lips, and just watches her walk. She walks to the board. She leans over while she writes. He knows that's gotta be just for him. She glances over to make sure he's noticing her "assets." He rolls his eyes like he thinks she's ridiculous for flirting with him. And it's a good thing that no one can hear his heartbeat speed up and give him away. He tries hard to pay attention to what she's saying but can't help but imagining him laying her back on her desk with her hair loose around her and her shirt unbuttoned and her chest heaving.

Castle tries to play it cool. He knows if Gates ever found out that he and Beckett fooled around in the precinct, she'd be suspended. If he did everything he wanted to do, and Gates found out, Kate would get fired.

It's just... he just can't... he can't stop thinking about it! Ever since Esposito let it slip a few months back about the storage room that got cleaned out but hasn't really been used since (except, obviously by Esposito, and presumably Lanie) he knows that there _is_ a place in this building where he could make her moan and no one else would hear it. The refrigeration units that cool the "cold evidence lockers" in the morgue create enough of a hum to drown out any sounds and there are no security cameras. The last camera view would make it look like they were going into the morgue.

He could make her moan.

_He_ could. No one else. Just him. That simple thought - Kate is with just him - excites him to no end.

She's talking about the case. He's watching her lips move. They stop and her eyes train on him. He loves how her makeup has a tiny bit of shimmer. Her eyebrows raise and he realizes that she's waiting for an answer of some sort.

It's happened before. He usually covers by making a joke or spinning a wild theory or saying they need more coffee. Ryan and Esposito have been on to him for a while, so they watch with laughing eyes to see how he gets out of it this time.

"Sorry, Kate... I was a little distracted." His voice is husky and low. He swallows. "Say that again?" She can't miss how he's looking at her hungrily.

"I was saying... uh... that the, uh, victim, I mean suspect... I'm hungry. Is it time for our lunch break?" _Because I cannot focus on this case at all with how badly I want him._

Ryan looks at his watch with a smarmy grin. "Nope. Two more hours."

_Yeah, there _are_ other people in the room. Castle admitting to being distracted by me shouldn't throw me so much. It really shouldn't. Get a grip, Kate._

She turns her back to him and squeezes her eyes shut for just a second then focuses back on the murder board.

Castle watches the range of emotions as they light on her features through the exchange. She turns, closes her eyes... and Detective Beckett's back. He smiles. _Amazing._

He actually listens this time, sees what she is trying to figure out and steps up to join in the theory building. Back and forth, finishing each other's sentences, until they have a solid theory.

He sits next to her against the desk. Closer than usual. So close that his arm brushes hers when he points at something on the board. When he puts it back down, his hand covers hers. Esposito's eyes go wide when she doesn't move away. Yes, he saw them making out, but they thought they were alone. He didn't expect to see them basically holding hands right in front of him. Ryan grins and holds his hand out for payment.

The click of a doorknob behind them somehow makes Kate instinctively stand up to continue voicing her thought without missing a beat. Castle adds to it, "Well, if the alien alibies out, then what do we have? The librarian he went out for a 'work lunch' with? She seemed a little hung up on him and acted nervous when we asked if she knew him well in front of her husband. And she had a photo turned backward on her desk. Maybe we should see who's in that picture."

"Good idea. You two see what you can find on the librarian, and we'll see if anything has come back from forensics." They continue talking about the case as they walk to the elevator, with Gates standing in her doorway observing. She'd never admit it, but the way their unorthodox team works together does work well. Castle may be a liability and a pain in the ass, but he asks the right questions so Beckett can figure things out. She'd also never admit that he was often the one to actually figure things out. As the pair step into the elevator, she wonders exactly what is different about them. They are walking closer than usual, and Beckett's hand just rested on his arm for a second while they talked. Gates doesn't think she'd ever seen that happen before. Maybe it was just because of the sparring session that they seem a little more physically connected. She narrows her eyes at them as the elevator doors shut, then dismisses them from her mind as she goes back to her paperwork.

The second the doors close, Castle's jovial demeanor ends. He doesn't finish his sentence, just pulls her to him and kisses her. She can't help but sigh as she kisses him back, but he pulls away almost instantly, pointing to the security camera above them. Its angle would have made it unclear if they were kissing or standing close for a second; but if they'd remained there, it would have become obvious, especially since the lower parts of their bodies would be clearer on the video feed. _And there's no way I can kiss her and keep my hands off of her._

She pulls herself together and he tries in vain to adjust his pants so that it's not so obvious how turned on he's getting.

"Are we really going down to the morgue?" he asks, surprised that she's still managing to keep working on the case. If anyone were to ask him about the case right then, he'd be able to tell them that somebody had probably gotten killed or something.

"We have to. We've got two hours until lunch, just be patient. We do have a murder to solve, too. We don't just come here to hang out together."

He doesn't admit that that's exactly why he's there.

"Ah. I see. Two hours, then you'll have your wicked way with me?" He teases her fingertips with his, knowing that the angle of the camera would not catch it. The light touch sends lightning through her.

But the bing of the doors stops her from answering. She takes a step back as the doors open on the ground floor and "Cricket" steps onto the elevator.

He nods but doesn't speak as he rides down with them. Castle's intelligent side tells him to be good. Not to provoke the big detective. Not to play with Beckett. To cross his arms and keep his mouth closed. However, the scoundrel boy in him has a firmer grip over his brain at the moment. He steps over to Kate, close enough that he reaches behind her and her arm is against his side.

He squeezes her butt while focusing his eyes on the big jerk that attempted to really hit his girl earlier. She stiffens, not sure how to react, but he starts talking and cupping her rear like it's completely normal, at the same time. She's so thrown, she first only knows that, against the back wall of the elevator, his hand can't be seen, then she tunes in to what he's saying.

"-but why do they call you Cricket? Bug phobia? You like to rub your legs together a lot? Oh, I know, you can float like a butterfly, but can't quite manage to sting like a bee?" The detective clenches his fists.

Kate knows it's only been a few seconds since he reached down to fondle her behind and started talking to Cricket, but it seems like it's been ten minutes. And it's the weirdest thing ever. And Castle's just grinning and enjoying harassing Cricket and teasing her at the same time.

Another bing. Finally.

The doors slide open, Cricket shoots Castle a look that could kill and steps out. Beckett punches Castle in the shoulder, hissing _"What was that?"_

"What was what?" He smiles and steps out of the lift.

They walk into the morgue, where Lanie's beginning to fill Cricket in on his body. "We'll wait in the hall."

Alone, Kate demands, "What the hell, Castle? Grabbing my butt and antagonizing that jackass in there at the same time? What were you thinking?"

She looks a little pissed. He laughs. "I was thinking about how I can't keep my hands off you and how I wanted to punch his face in for trying to hurt you." _Cue sweet boyish smile. Aaand… damn. Kate was supposed to smile, not give me the Beckett glare._

Cricket opens the door and pushes past Castle, addressing only Beckett, "You need to keep your boy there in line," as he walks back to the elevator.

"I don't think it's possible." She saves her smile until she's turned around and he can't see it. But Lanie sees.

"Mmm hmm! I've heard about you two getting some action!"

Kate's jaw drops, Castle freezes. Lanie just laughs. "About this corpse…" and she gives them the run-down.

Well, hell, if she already knows, why hide it? Kate touches his arm while they talk. He touches her hand. They do "that thing," as Lanie calls it, building more theory, until Lanie interrupts. "What is this?"

"What?"

"All the touching. Are you two…" She looks back and forth between them. "Oh, you are! Finally!"

"Wait, Lanie, you didn't know? I thought everybody knew! Then what was that 'getting action' comment about?"

"Sparring. In the gym. Castle kicking ass and taking names. Cricket's still pissed off."

"Oh." Well, that was embarrassing.

Lanie laughs at their embarrassment and admits, "I knew you'd kissed, but at the rate you two move, it could have been another two years before it happened again and another three before you managed to actually go on a date. So good for you!"

They ironed out why Kate didn't share, and there was the obligatory threat from Lanie about if Castle ever hurts Kate, then a surprising identical threat to Kate about hurting Castle. Finally, much to Rick's relief, they left.

"Castle, where are you going?"

"Just come here. I want to show you something." Rounding the angle in the hallway, he points out the backside of the cold storage. "Hear that?"

She looks at him like he's nuts. "Hear what?"

"Exactly." He opens a door to a room she didn't even know was there and pulls her into the darkness.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Please review. The more I get, the more I want to write. I'm a junkie. A sad, addicted review junkie._

_And I hope this chapter didn't suck, but it might, because I'm really tired. If it did, I'm sorry._


	16. Dark

_*** WARNING*** DO NOT READ THIS AT WORK OR IF YOUR CHILDREN ARE STILL AWAKE!_

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><p>The two seconds of light coming in the open door let him know where the empty book case and the lonely cardboard box were - both against the back wall and out of the way. He has the presence of mind to turn the doorknob to make sure it doesn't automatically lock before he pushes the door shut.<p>

"Sorry. I couldn't wait until lunch... I take that back. I'm not sorry." His fingers run up her arm to her upper back, but he doesn't pull her close just yet. His other hand reaches for her face, caressing it in the pitch dark. He gently whispers, "So this is how blind people see beauty," and hears her breath catch.

Rick's plan was to pull up the app in his phone that gives a flickering candle light, but this touching in complete and total darkness is incredibly tantalizing. He feels her fingers trace up his stomach to his chest the neck then up to his ear. He can feel her getting warmer and her heart beating harder under his hand that's still on her back.

She slowly leans closer to him, stopping a breath away from his neck. She whispers, letting her lips tickle just below his ear with their feather-light touch. The warmth and softness steal his breath. Her kiss is warm and wet on his neck, _Oh, shit, that's her tongue,_ and he's slowly losing his mind because of the sensation.

Kate works her kisses over to his mouth, her hands roaming, feeling without seeing. She unbuttons his shirt, unable to see that pretty blue shirt that brings out how gorgeous his eyes are, and trails her kisses down the path her fingers had just followed. She feels his abs jump under her lips the lower she goes. Another kiss lower and they jump again. When he reaches the top of his pants, she kisses him slowly just below his navel - he gasps - then works her way back up to his mouth, her hands running freely down his sides to his stomach then around and back up his back.

_Good god,_ he thinks he might explode with anticipation, and she hasn't touched anything below his belt yet.

He unbuttons her shirt, thumbs caressing her sensitive skin, and gets lost in all the heat and softness and the little sounds she makes. His hands encircle her waist, feeling soft skin and hard muscle and the bottom of her ribs. _She's so small. Such a delicate woman. Fierce but so fragile._

She lets herself feel his muscles, really feel them instead of seeing them, tracing the outlines of smaller ones with her fingers, letting the larger ones like his biceps fill her palms. The sensation of smooth skin and coarse hairs and soft silk ignite her fingers as they dip into his waistband. His ragged gasp heats her ears.

The metallic jingle of his belt buckle invades his ears, seeming to intrude on the organic sounds of the room- the sighs, moans, gasps that communicate so much need. He feels the pressure of her fingers working his button against his abdomen, the friction of his pants sliding down, then her hands sliding around to his silk-clad rear to pull him closer.

_Damn, she keeps getting so close only to stop._ "Such a tease." His whisper is raspy and tickles her forehead.

She kisses him, and he can feel her smiling. She leans closer, pressing her body fully against him, making him gasp again. She chuckles into his mouth. He holds her firmly in place, feeling every tiny movement she makes through his boxers and her lips moving against his and her tongue and her hands dancing their own magical dances.

Kate is completely overwhelmed at how close she's getting when all he's done is kiss her and unbutton her shirt. She's overcome with need and intoxicated by his scent and his strong hands and his velvet voice. She's trying to go slow and relish every second of this. She's so used to reading his eyes and his expressions that she's rarely focused on what he does to her other senses, but in the total blackness, she feels everything, hears everything, tastes everything. His muscles jump and quiver under her touch or her tongue. His hands grip her in different ways, gently then firmly then softly then possessively, evoking chillbumps and moans. He gingerly undresses her like he's carefully unwrapping a gift. She reaches her breaking point and lifts a leg to wrap around him, changing the pace from restrained and deliberate to frantic and uninhibited.

"I need you." Her voice is raw. He responds, giving her exactly what they both want. Frenzied, feverish, with every sensation multiplied exponentially with the darkness. He holds her up, not trusting the cleanliness of the floor of the storage room, adding to the newness of the experience; gasping, hot and wild, until they're both loudly moaning their satisfaction.

She feels her feet touch the floor and realizes for the first time that she had been completely supported by her legs squeezing around him and, well, by _him_. Panting -almost gasping- for air, neither lets go. Neither trusts that they'll be able to stand on their own. Her forehead rests on his collarbone; one of his hands is at the small of her back and the other is in her hair.

"Oh, wow," her breathy whisper is felt more than heard.

"Yeah. We'll have to come here again." He doesn't even catch is double entendre.

"Yeah."

In silence, they hold each other another minute, trading soft sweet little kisses.

Finally, he reaches down to find his phone and pulls up the candle app. They use it to re-dress, straightening each other's clothes and fixing each other's hair. One more lingering kiss, then she opens the door.

"You needed me, huh?" Castle's smug smile would have been a lot more annoying if her thigh muscles weren't still quivering. She wished he'd asked that in the dark. It seemed easier to be open in there.

"Nope."

"You didn't? Because I'm pretty sure I heard you say you needed me."

_Just say it. _"Wrong tense, Castle." She starts walking away while he's figuring out what that meant. "Need, not needed."

Though he's behind her and she can't see his face, she knows the look he has when understanding dawns on him. She knows he's smiling when he asks, "You mean a present-active-participle kind of need?"

_Dork._ She turns around, walking backwards to the elevator, and simply smiles back.

He hurries to catch up with her and wonders if it's possible to overdose on bliss.

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><p><em>After this, I might need rehab. I'm so addicted to reviews. Like butterfinger pie. I love them so much.<em>

_I was tempted to title this chapter "Tell me you need me," because I loved her reaction to him saying that in Cops & Robbers. _


	17. Carpet with a thick pad

When it came right down to it, they were pathetically addicted. They didn't do the sickeningly sweet couple thing that Ryan and Jenny did. They did their own unique joined-at-the-hip thing. She should have expected it, should have known all along.

When she forgave him after he dug into her mother's murder, when she asked him to stay when he was ready to quit the day she shot Coonan, when she let him win the bet that allowed him to come back after he'd spent the summer with Gina; she should have known that despite all of her protests, she'd always wanted him there at her side and in her head and holding her heart.

Ever since she said she was ready, that she wanted to be more, she knew it would come to this. When she saw Royal the dog as a way to be with Rick outside of work, even though she wasn't ready to date him, she knew that the clock inside her was counting down to the time that she would be ready.

She thought she was; then his simple touch, so unassuming and natural, showing her how Royal liked to be pet, set off fireworks inside her. Or possibly some demolition explosives. She'd held his hand during the bank robbery to give him hope. She asked him to hold her hand when they were handcuffed together to steady herself and bring him with her. Then he held her hand, because of the dog.

No perilous situation forcing their hand, just a desire to touch. Then explosions caused by a circling thumb.

So she began making excuses to see him and touch him and knew it would get out of hand, but she wanted the explosions, she wanted the wall to come down, and when it finally did, they couldn't get enough.

It was completely out of hand. They just got it on in a dark storage room behind the morgue, and she was trying to force the "I just had amazing sex" look off her face and was slightly annoyed that he was more successful at hiding it than she was.

"Hey, Castle, have you ever considered changing your guestroom into an exercise room? Maybe you could put a mat down for some sparring practice at home?"

He laughed.

"How about I just have thick carpet installed so I can sneak up behind you anytime and anywhere I want and, uh, check your reflexes?"

She looked, half-smiling at the mental image of being in his loft anytime, available to him all the time. Him coming up behind her, wrapping his strong arms around her. Huh. Funny, she's really not thinking about grappling. Soft, tender holds, tucking her head under his chin, snuggling, hugging, kissing… yeah, that's a good mental image.

"What are you thinking?" He can tell it's not sparring. He thinks he sees the truth in her eyes: love, future, and family. Cuddling and kids.

She smiles and winks. "Something more than just checking reflexes."

She gives him a soft, sweet kiss and links her fingers with his. "Come on. We've got a case to solve. Then we can go home."

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><p><em>AN: I figured I needed to wrap this one up, since I haven't gotten back to it. So I hope you liked the end. Please review!_


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